I have every sympathy with Robbie Phillips (Your Letters, March 18), I too parked at Somerfield while I went into Waitrose and was away about 15 minutes.

When I returned I found a parking ticket for £20 because my parking permit was a fortnight out of date.

The reply I received from the council was: "It is up to you to make sure your permit is renewed on time."

I feel this was a mean fine as there was no deliberate attempt not to pay for parking, it was just an oversight.

I think it would have been fair to have received a warning stating the permit was out of date and a fine would be imposed if it was not renewed in a week's time.

Although I purchase a permit, I seldom use it, as when I come into town I usually park at Waitrose.

However, I shall in future only come to town when I have to as I am another one who is disillusioned with this council's attitude to shoppers.

D W L Griffiths, Teme Avenue, Malvern.

Robbie Phillips (Your Letters, March 18) is right to complain about the way the council treats people who use its car parks and about the cost.

However, compare Malvern with Tenbury Wells. In Malvern you can get a yearly season ticket for £100 or a weekly ticket for just £3. These tickets are not available in Tenbury. We have to pay £1.50 for just half a day.

If we want to park in the only MHDC car park in our town, for just four hours per day, for five days each week, that will cost us approaching £400 a year.

As to the penalty for failing to display a disc, the council's 'Written Appeal Against Excess Charge' form does say you can enclose a copy of your ticket or parking disc with your appeal, so perhaps it doesn't impose a penalty under these circumstances?

Chris Dell, Aston Bank, Tenbury Wells.

AS MHDC knows to whom and for which vehicles it has issued parking discs, all its staff and agents, including its parking attendants, are deemed to have all this information.

Accordingly, I wonder if there is a case to challenge the legality of fines for failing to display a valid disc on a number of grounds arising out of a clear abuse of power, particularly if that fine is the same as that imposed on "offenders" who have neither disc nor ticket.

Paul Clayburn, West Malvern Road, West Malvern.